U.S. Supreme Court strikes down part of Defense of Marriage Act, clears way for same-sex marriage in California

Vin Testa of Washington, DC, waves a rainbow flag in support of gay rights at the Supreme Court as key decisions are expected to be announced, Tuesday, June 25, 2013, in Washington. At the end of the court's term, several major cases are still outstanding that could have widespread political impact on same-sex marriage and voting rights. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

WASHINGTON (AP) -- In significant but incomplete victories for gay rights, the Supreme Court on Wednesday struck down a provision of a federal law denying federal benefits to married gay couples and cleared the way for the resumption of same-sex marriage in California.

The justices issued two 5-4 rulings in their final session of the term. One decision wiped away part of a federal anti-gay marriage law that has kept legally married same-sex couples from receiving tax, health and pension benefits.

The other was a technical legal ruling that said nothing at all about same-sex marriage, but left in place a trial court's declaration that California's Proposition 8 is unconstitutional. That outcome probably will allow state officials to order the resumption of same-sex weddings in the nation's most populous state in about a month.

The high court said nothing about the validity of gay marriage bans in California and roughly three dozen other states.

"We have no authority to decide this case on the merits, and neither did the 9th Circuit," Roberts said, referring to the federal appeals court that also struck down Proposition 8.

In the case involving the federal Defense of Marriage Act, Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote the majority opinion, joined by the court's liberal justices.

"Under DOMA, same-sex married couples have their lives burdened, by reason of government decree, in visible and public ways," Kennedy said.

"DOMA's principal effect is to identify a subset of state-sanctioned marriages and make them unequal," he said.

Some in the crowd outside the court hugged and others jumped up and down just after 10 a.m. EDT Wednesday when the DOMA decision was announced. Many people were on their cell phones monitoring Twitter, news sites and blogs for word of the decision. And there were cheers as runners came down the steps with the decision in hand and turned them over to reporters who quickly flipped through the decisions.

Chants of "Thank you" and "USA" came from the crowd as plaintiffs in the cases descended the court's marbled steps

Same-sex marriage has been adopted by 12 states and the District of Columbia. Another 18,000 couples were married in California during a brief period when same-sex unions were legal there.

"Today marks an important moment for families across Michigan and our country as we take another step closer toward living up to the ideals our nation was founded on -- equality, freedom, and justice," said U.S. Gary Peters, D-Bloomfield Hills.

"No American should be denied the chance to legally marry and raise a family with the one they love and with all the benefits that entails. I was proud to join my colleagues in an amicus brief to the Supreme Court in support of striking down DOMA as unconstitutional. The Supreme Court's decision today ends an era of discrimination, and I will continue to fight for equal rights so that we can say with confidence that America is a place where anyone can have their chance to succeed."